Most schools rarely disqualify pups (unless there is a health issue) and even then most often the puppy raiser home gets first dibs on the dog, and then if they don't keep the dog, there is a waiting list that is quite long. If that's a route you want to go, you'd want to get your name on a list now.

Yup. I actually was a puppy raiser for Leader Dogs in high-school, so I know the system pretty well. I know they don't have "wash outs" under a year, as it is at a year the pups go back for evaluation. Then the ones that pass the evaluation are put through further training, and the ones that pass that are matched with a person. The pup we raised is now a Guide dog, but we did request to take her back when she retires.

I am really really really aching for a puppy. A male black Lab pup that I can do some noncompetitive obedience work with and therapy work with is my dream dog at the moment. If it looks like a puppy wouldn't be the best fit when the time rolls around, that is an interesting option that I'll have to look in to. I'm also considering adoption a medical research dog through the university, but that all depends on the timing and the dog...and regardless, I WILL be getting my puppy at some point.

Thanks for the link, Charlie. I'll see if I can get it to help me out!

If you look really hard you might be able to find a pup. Up until I got Logan I was on the list for a poodle pup from American Poodles at Work. They simply don't have the space to train all the pups they produce, so some are rehomed as puppies. You're more likely to find this in a smaller school.

There's a breeder that comes to the clinic fairly often for OFA stuff and AI/timing stuff. I don't know if it's what you like in a lab, but if I were to ever get a lab (and that's not likely lol) I'd definitely get one of his based jsut on looks. I don't know a ton about his breeding program other than he obviously does OFA hips/elbows.

The dogs on there are FAT compared to how they look when they come in. I swear they've not been that chunky when I've seen them. I dunno, maybe I've just always seen them pregnant and don't notice the fat lol. Maybe he fattens them up for the conformation ring. I can't recall how much the dogs weight, but I can easily find out. They are fairly short, though, short enough that I couldn't even consider one when I was looking for an SD candidate (Logan is 26 inches and PERFECT height). But I absolutely LOVE this dog, she's such a sweetheart: Scarlett

This dog is pretty nice too, but Scarlett is still my favorite Presley

The last two yellow Whitmores are perfect to me, but that one black looks like too far in the "weedy" direction and I don't like his houndy ears. The one after has a weird looking head IMO. The Holton Classics look nice.

What amazed me about the 'type' page is the part at the bottom where they mention the size of the same dog in conformation weight and field trial weight. I would expect a difference...but 20 lbs? Wow. Makes me wonder if I'd like the look of show labs a lot better if they removed 1/4 of their body weight.

No recommendations, but those Kelrobin labs are GORGEOUS. I love Jake. <3 Good luck in your search! How exciting!

LOL I was going to suggest Kelrobin. Laura has awesome dogs. I have huge soft spot for Jake- he's very much like my Caleb. Jake has sired some pups for a service dog organization (I think just one litter as of now), as has Seamus.

What amazed me about the 'type' page is the part at the bottom where they mention the size of the same dog in conformation weight and field trial weight. I would expect a difference...but 20 lbs? Wow. Makes me wonder if I'd like the look of show labs a lot better if they removed 1/4 of their body weight.

From what I understand it is very common for labs to have at least 5-10 lbs of weight put on them for the show season. It really confuses me why judges would be rewarding fatter dogs since this is a breed that is supposed to be athletic. This is why I would have trouble showing labs in confo and doing well--I have a real issue deliberately putting that much extra weight on a dog to show it.

I think there are some Lab breeders that DO have overweight dogs, but most of them have a lot of bone and if you put your hands on them they really aren't that fat. I don't think you can judge by a picture if the dog is overweight or not, you really have to get your hands on them.

Take Finn from WigWag Labradors for instance - to some he is FAT, but if even if you look at his puppy pictures he was twice as big as the rest of his littermates. He just has a lot of bone and substance - personally, I think he is gorgeous!